Sherwood native's marine mammal studies take her to OSU, beyond

View full sizeCourtesy of RENEE ALBERTSONRenee Albertson, a doctoral student at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, is studying humpback whales and dolphins in French Polynesia and the South Pacific.

Standing in rain-soaked clothes, 8-year-old Renee Albertson had an epiphany about the killer whale, Miracle, with whom she played ring toss over a low fence.

A canceled show at a Canadian aquarium had serendipitously brought Renee and her parents to the whale's tank after they'd read stories of Miracle's rescue from a fishing net.

"That was the first time that I thought this is a really smart animal, like my dog," Albertson said. "It got me thinking about conservation in an 8-year-old mind."

Decades years later, the former Sherwood girl is working on her Ph.D. in marine biology at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute and has joined an international research team studying cetaceans such as whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Her fascination has taken her to French Polynesia, Hawaii and the South Pacific via two research grants.

But that wasn't always the path she had in mind. Studying whales seemed an impractical career for the young woman charting her undergraduate course.

Albertson, 41, grew up in Sherwood and attended Sherwood High School for two years until her family moved to California. She returned to Oregon to earn a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Portland State University and a master's in education from Pacific University. She taught chemistry for 10 years at David Douglas High School until she felt burned out.

View full sizeCourtesy of RENEE ALBERTSONRenee Albertson (left) and other researchers photograph rough-toothed dolphins in the South Pacific Ocean to study their behavior and track the population.

"I went to my principal one day and said 'I don't want to be one of those teachers that sits in the back and reads a newspaper,'" she said. "I need new ideas."

Albertson expected she would come back to teaching, but in the meantime, she planned on taking whale-watching trips and continuing scuba diving. Following a friend's advice, she contacted OSU whale researcher Michael Poole about a job during her summer break from teaching in 2005.

Via a series of fortuitous events, he offered her an unpaid internship to assist his research of humpback whales.

OSU's South Pacific Whale Research Consortium is a team of research scientists, including Poole, who investigate the status and behavior of humpback and other whale species in Oceania in the South Pacific using nonlethal research methods.

According to their research, humpback whales are endangered in Oceania after decades of illegal whaling that may have resulted in the extinction of some local populations.

Albertson's mission in French Polynesia, made possible by a research grant Poole received, was to track the humpback whales that migrated through the area by comparing recently sighted humpback whale tails -- unique like human fingerprints -- to those in previous years.

The objective was to study the whales' behavior, count the whale population and perhaps uncover pockets of undiscovered humpback whales.

French Polynesia contains over two-thirds of the world's marine mammal species, she said. "It's an amazing laboratory, except it's not a laboratory," she said. "This is why I can tolerate sitting behind a computer during the winter, because I know I'll get to be in those waters again."

Albertson and Poole's findings suggested humpback whales did have a presence in the archipelagos, including calving grounds where the whales gave birth. Poole and Albertson presented their analysis to the French Polynesian Ministry of the Environment to encourage them to continue protecting the whales.

While the French Polynesia grant is ongoing, it's not the only place a grant has allowed Albertson to visit for research. Another grant has allowed her to study the genetic structure of dolphins with her adviser, Scott Baker, who heads the international research team.

View full sizeCourtesy of RENEE ALBERTSONRough-toothed dolphins are among the marine mammals Renee Albertson studies. She said her findings suggest the species population in Hawaii is unsustainable.

When not in Polynesia, Albertson travels to different areas in the South Pacific and Hawaii to study rough-toothed dolphins. Her team found those dolphins were not mixing genes with other types, meaning the population was unsustainable.

"Any threat from humans and you run the risk of diminishing this population or wiping them out," she said.

Albertson said she planned on presenting those findings as part of her doctoral work to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency that tracks ocean conditions, to try to change how rescued dolphins are treated.

She said her overall favorite experience traveling has been her encounters in Polynesia with a mother humpback whale and her calf.

"You don't hold your baby out for a stranger to see, but it's a pretty interesting experience having a mother think 'you're OK' and put her calf next to the boat," she said.

Albertson has allotted six months of down time to work on her Ph.D. but knows she'll be itching to get back on the water with her beloved marine animals.

"I really feel so lucky to have these opportunities," she said. "It's fabulous traveling all over and finally doing what I want to do."